They urged that there is an urgent need for the community to take up the matter as it is a long pending issue of safeguarding the wakf. A representative delegation of Muslims would approach Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in this regard. At a meeting held here to chalk out a strategy for retrieving the said properties, most of the participants have expressed their disappointment over the inept handling of the problem by the MMA. Former Cabinet Secretary Zafar Saifullah, who presided the meeting, observed that it was the duty of every Muslims to protect and care the wakf properties. “If we failed in this task, then we are not entitled to be called ourselves as Muslim.” He said the community needs to be vigilant on the wakf issue as these properties are vested in the name of God.
It is to be noted that the problem of 123 wakf properties transferring to the Delhi Wakf Board has been lingering since 1984 when the central government, in accordance the with Burney Committee recommendations, has decided to hand over the properties to Wakf Board. Although, the MH Burney Committee had identified 250 wakf properties but the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had announced that only 123 properties would be given to wakf board. These included Masjid Abdul Nabi at ITO, Ghata Masjid at Daryagnaj, a huge land adjacent to the Delhi Public School at Mathura road, a grave land at the outer circle of commercial center Connaught Place and others. On March 27, 1984, the Center has issued a notification but it was flawed one that was immediately challenged in Delhi High Court.
The court had stayed the transfer and it had continued for more than a quarter century. However, during the course of hearing in early 2008, the learned Judges enquired about the paraphrasing of the notification of the Ministry of Works & Housing dated March 27, 1984 stating, “The transfer will be on perpetual lease hold basis”. The Judges were of the opinion that the Wakf properties are vested in the name of God and therefore, the Government of India cannot be the owner of such properties. Therefore, in case the Government considers these properties as Wakf, which are stated to be religious in nature such as Mosque, Dargah, Graveyard etc., they should have transferred/handed over the properties to the Wakf Board as Wakf properties and not on “perpetual lease hold basis”.
From the facts on record, it was clear that there was an inherent contradiction in retaining the ownership of the Wakf properties while transferring them to the Delhi Wakf Board on lease basis. The Court was surprised on this and desired that the Additional Solicitor General may get specific advice from the Government of India and convey the stand of the Government to the Court. Immediately, on the initiative of Central Wakf Council, a meeting was held on April 7, 2008 at the (then) Minister of Urban Affairs Jaipal Reddy’s office. He indicated that the necessary decision in this regard could be taken only by a group of Ministers to be constituted for this. Former Secretary, Central Wakf Council, Dr. M R Haque, who conducted the meeting, said the CWC vigorously pursued the matter during his tenure but nothing happened. Terming the wording of the notification as a “deliberate attempt”, Zafar Saifullah said the government should be persuaded to issue new notification as these properties were taken over by the then British government to build the new capital in 1913-14.
Since the decision of Center clarifying its stand was not forthcoming, the Delhi High Court, on January 12, 2011, disposed off the Writ Petition (C) No.1512 of 1984 related to 123 wakf properties of Delhi, directing the Government to take a final decision in the matter, within a period of six months and parties were also directed to maintain status-quo till then. The Government has taken extensions but has not come out with its final stand so far. In the meanwhile, there are reports of encroachments on these properties. Criticizing the MM A over its complete silence on the issue, they said it is the nodal Ministry of wakf matters.
Welfare party president Mujtaba Farooq has suggested of forming an action committee in order to pursue the matter in coordinated way. While lambasting the ASI for its dereliction of its duty, former Delhi state minority commission chairman Kamal Farooqi said he had a list 31 mosques where all sorts of unethical practice were going on. He insisted that the ASI act did not prohibit offering ‘namaaz’ in these protected mosques. Speakers also came down heavily on the Delhi wakf Board for its lack of concern for these 123 properties.
Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind (Arshad) leader Maulana Abdul Razzaq has charged Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid with misusing his powers. He said the minister has written a recommendatory letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to hand over a piece of wakf land situated at Mehruli to a Congress leader. “When we contacted the Minister, he told us that the said Congress worker helped a lot to the Party in winning the election,” he added. The wakf Board is also not pursuing the case properly because of minister’s recommendation.
The meeting was attended by number of Muslim organizations and prominent individuals of the city including Dr Qasim Rasool Ilyas, Maulana Fazal Rehman Mujadadi, Dr Shakil Zaman and others.